AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-219
ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a
worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in
designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital
Amateur Radio satellites.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org
In this edition:
* AMSAT-NA In Orbit Again with ARISSat-1
* NASA Education Express Message - ARISSat-1/KEDR Deployment
* ARISSat-1/KEDR Deployed on August 3 - Signals Received
* ARISSat-1/KEDR Reception Report Certificates
* AMSAT-UK Issues ARISSat-1/KEDR BPSK Reception Challenge
* AMSAT History: 40th Anniversary of First Synchronous Satellite Proposal
* ARISS Status - 1 August 2011
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-219.01
AMSAT-NA In Orbit Again with ARISSat-1
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 219.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 7, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-219.01
AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, observed, "Welcome to a
new era as AMSAT returns to space with ARISSat-1/KEDR. I encour-
age all hams, SWLs, educators, and experimenters to enjoy the
unique opportunity presented by this mission to learn about ama-
teur radio in space, enhance and improve your station, and hone
your operating skills as you try out all of this satellite's
features."
Barry continues, "ARISSat-1/KEDR marks a new type of satellite
which has captured the attention of the national space agencies
around the world for the unique educational opportunity we have
been able to design, launch, and now operate. By designing an
educational mission aligned with NASA's Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics goals amateur radio operators around
the world can now enjoy a new satellite in orbit."
ARISSat-1/KEDR Project Manager, Gould Smith, WA4SXM said, "Dozens
of amateur radio volunteers, AMSAT, ARRL, NASA, and Energia have
teamed up for this successful mission to bring you the most unique
and innovative amateur radio satellite mission flying 220 miles
above your QTH at 17,500 mph! Congratulations to all who made
ARISSat-1 successful!"
Continuing, Gould said, "ARRISat-1/KEDR has been developed, built,
and tested by a remarkable team of radio amateurs. As the Project
Manager for ARISSat-1/KEDR these past three years I have had the
opportunity to work with these creative people to get to where we
are now ... IN ORBIT!"
Watch the video of ARISSat-1/KEDR Project Manager Gould Smith
WA4SXM's interview on WBIR TV about the new Amateur Radio satelite
ARISSat-1 which 'takes distance learning to new heights':
http://tinyurl.com/3fc8f9n (Soutgate ARC News)
ARISSat-1 Project Web Page: http://www.arissat1.org
ARISSat-1 Operational News: http://www.amsat.org
How to receive ARISSat-1:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/ARISSat/ARISSatHowTo.php
[ANS thanks AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW and ARISSat-1/KEDR
Project Manager, Gould Smith, WA4SXM for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-219.02
NASA Education Express Message - ARISSat-1/KEDR Deployment
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 219.02
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 7, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-219.02
The NASA Education Office posted news of the ARISSat-1/KEDR deploy-
ment in their August 4 Education EXPRESS message. The Express message
below was sent to 18,516 EXPRESS subscribers and to 1,285,892 NASA
Twitter account subscribers. Using social media services to expand
the range for NASA education messages has increased the total audi-
ence to approximately 1,304,408 people. (Yes, that's 1.3 million
people).
[NASA EXPRESS Message follows]
ARISSat-1 Satellite Launched
A satellite with amateur radio capabilities and a student-designed
experiment was released into orbit around Earth on Aug. 3, 2011,
during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. The sat-
ellite is transmitting signals containing information that students
around the world can access.
ARISSat-1, which stands for Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station Satellite-1, contains a student-designed experiment and other
equipment that students can use to learn more about space and space
exploration. The rectangular spacecraft is covered by six solar panels
that will charge the batteries in the satellite for about six months
as it orbits Earth. Spoken telemetry values, with data such as temp-
erature and battery life, are intended to promote science and mathem-
atics education by encouraging school children to listen to the satel-
lite, track its progress and plot the changes.
The project website provides free downloadable software that can be
used to decode the data. In addition to data, the satellite will trans-
mit 24 pre-recorded greetings in 15 different languages -- French,
Spanish, German, English and Chinese, to name a few.
Check out the ARISSat-1 website at http://arissat1.org/ for information
on data transmissions, contests and student activities.
Questions about ARISSat-1 should be directed to teachers at arissat1.org.
NASA Education listserv: http://www.nasa.gov/education/express
NASA Twitter: http://twitter.com/nasa
NASA Blogs: http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/newui/blog/blogs.jsp
NASA Education Express Blog:
http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/educationexpress
[ANS thanks AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW for forwarding this
news to the AMSAT News Service]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-219.03
ARISSat-1/KEDR Deployed on August 3 - Signals Received
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 219.03
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 7, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-219.03
ARISSat-1/KEDR was deployed from the ISS during EVA-29 on Wednesday,
August 3 by Cosmonaut/Flight Engineers Sergei Volkov and Alexander
Samokutyaev. First reported signals were received by JR8LWY with
copy of the telemetry beacon as the satellite passed over Japan.
Full operational capability of ARISSat-1/KEDR was quickly confirmed
after initial concern of a missing or damaged 70cm receiver antenna
on the satellite.
145.950 MHz FM Downlink - OPERATIONAL
-------------------------------------
FM transmissions will cycle between a voice ID as RS01S, select tele-
metry values, 24 international greeting messages in 15 languages and
SSTV images. One of the messages will be a conversation between Yuri
Gagarin and ground control.
If you successfully receive the SSTV transmissions, you are invited
to upload your picture to to the ARISS SSTV Gallery:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/
435 MHz - 145 MHz Linear Transponder - OPERATIONAL
--------------------------------------------------
The linear transponder operates in Mode U/V (70 cm Up, 2m Down).
It is an 16 KHz wide inverting passband and the convention will be
to TX LSB on the 435 MHz uplink and RX USB on the 145 MHz downlink.
The full status of the 70cm antenna is unknown however reports of
contacts and full uplink-downlink operation are being received:
+ Drew, KO4MA reported on August 4, "I was able to hear myself with
as little as 1 watt on the 0425Z pass". This equates to an EIRP
of as little as 26 watts which can be easily produced by even modest
satellite stations. Audio with a picture were
posted at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AFyZNAbOeA
+ John, K8YSE reported completing an unscheduled contact with KD8CAO
on August 5 at 1125z. Signals were weak but readable.
+ Masa, JN1GKZ reported from Tokyo receiving his downlink signal
during an eclipse pass on August 5, 1233-1240z with a clear and
loud downlink though the elevation was less then 5 degrees.
145.919 MHz CW Beacons - OPERATIONAL
------------------------------------
The CW transmissions will be callsign ID RS01S, select telemetry,
and callsigns of people actively involved with the ARISS program.
145.920 MHz SSB BPSK-1000 Telemetry - OPERATIONAL
-------------------------------------------------
AMSAT needs your telemetry from ARISSat-1/KEDR. Since there are no
"Whole Orbit Data" storage mechanisms onboard ARISSat-1/KEDR, your
submissions are the only way for AMSAT to collect the spacecraft
telemetry and KURSK experiment results.
+ Recorded file ARISSat-1/KEDR and Kursk telemetry CSV files (in the
ARISSatTLM folder) can be sent as an e-mail attachment to:
telemetry at arissattlm.org
+ If you are running ARISSatTLM and receiving the signal "live"
from ARISSat-1/KEDR, please enable the telemetry forwarding option.
+ The latest telemetry can be seen LIVE on your computer or cell
phone at: http://www.arissattlm.org/mobile
[ANS thanks the ARISSat-1/KEDR Team for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-219.04
ARISSat-1/KEDR Reception Report Certificates
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 219.04
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 7, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-219.04
When you receive the downlink signal from ARISSat-1/KEDR you are
invited to send your report to the following e-mail boxes. You will
receive a PDF certificate by e-mail.
Students and school groups are especially welcome! We look forward
to your report!
Your report must contain the following information:
1) The signal you received:
a) the secret word*,
b) an SSTV image, or,
c) telemetry data
2) Your name or group name
3) The date/time of reception
4) Your e-mail address of where to send your certificate. You will
receive a PDF certificate via email.
Here are the e-mail boxes to send your reports:
Secret word* contest to: secretword at arissat1.org
SSTV image to: sstvreport at arissat1.org
Telemetry data to: tlmreport at arissat1.org
(either digital or voice report of the data you received)
Received BPSK telemetry and .CSV files should continue to be
sent to: telemetry at arissattlm.org.
* Those who do hear the secret word or call sign please do not put
it out to the world. That would ruin the contest for those still
waiting for their station to be in range.
You can find the details of the ARISSat-1/KEDR radio frequencies,
links to telemetry decoding software and mission details on-line at:
+ http://www.amsat.org
+ http://arissat1.org
ARISSat-1/KEDR can be accessed on these frequencies:
+ 145.950 MHz FM Downlink
+ 435 MHz - 145 MHz Linear Transponder
+ 145.919 MHz CW Beacon
+ 145.920 MHz SSB BPSK-1000 Telemetry
The latest telemetry can be seen LIVE on your computer or cell
phone at: http://www.arissattlm.org/mobile
TRACK STATUS on OSCAR STATUS PAGE
---------------------------------
David Carr, KD5QGR has added ARISSat-1/KEDR to the list of satel-
lites at the popular "Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page" at:
http://oscar.dcarr.org/ You are invited to submit your reports
on this page.
[ANS thanks the ARISSat-1/KEDR Team for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-219.05
AMSAT-UK Issues ARISSat-1/KEDR BPSK Reception Challenge
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 219.05
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 7, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-219.05
ARISSat-1 was deployed from the ISS on August 3. It has a composite
VHF downlink that will easily fit into the FUNcube Dongle (FCD) re-
ceive spectrum. The 145.920 MHz telemetry is 1000 bps BPSK and can,
of course, also be received with a normal SSB 2 metre receiver.
The signal levels from ARISSat-1 should be similar to those we expect
from the AMSAT-UK FUNcube-1 satellite (and also eventually from UKube-1)
and the AMSAT-UK team are keen to discover what will be the minimum and
best type of antennas for schools to use with a FUNcube Dongle (FCD)
Software Defined Radio (SDR). Therefore user experience with the
ARISSat-1 signals will be very valuable in making this determination.
To encourage everyone to receive the 145.920 MHz BPSK ARISSat-1 tele-
metry signal AMSAT-UK are offering a FUN reward for listeners!
There are a number of categories for this challenge -they include:
+ The first FCD user, from each continent, who can post a spectrum
recording of the received signal together with evidence of decoding
the data using the ARISSatTLM software and of sending it to the
ARISSat data warehouse.
+ The first non-FCD user, from each continent, who can provide evidence
of having decoded the signals and of sending it to the ARISSat data
warehouse.
+ The listener, using a FCD or not, who can demonstrate satisfactory
reception of the telemetry in the same ways as described above, using
the "smallest" possible receive antenna. The actual closing date for
this part of the challenge will be announced later.
+ All other entrants who can demonstrate that they have been having FUN!
Please submit your "entries", including your location, station details
(including FCD serial number where applicable), postal address and
reports to: g0auk at amsat.org
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and Trevor, M5AKA for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-219.06
AMSAT History: 40th Anniversary of First Synchronous Satellite Proposal
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 219.06
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 7, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-219.06
July 24 marked the 40th anniversary of AMSAT's original SYNCART proposal
to NASA, in 1971, to fly a Synchronous Amateur Radio Transponder on NASA's
Applications Technology Satellite ATS-G. NASA's response to our proposal
appeared to be favorable, but unfortunately NASA cancelled the ATS-G
mission.
The SYNCART proposal is on AMSAT-DL's web site at for those who would
like to read it. It gives the justification why NASA should fly it for
free, listing a number of amateur experiments and applications, most of
which would still apply today.
The 1971 WARC on Space Technology was held around the same time
(June 7 - July 17, 1971, in Geneva). That's the ITU conference that
established the amateur-satellite service and allocated frequencies to it.
Several satellite manufacturers are now advertising that they host pay-
loads aboard their satellite platforms. Think how it would transform
amateur radio if we could get SYNCART packages aboard one or more of
them!
Read a copy of the original proposal at:
http://www.amsat-dl.org/images/stories/satellites/syncart/sync.pdf
AMSAT-DL article (in German) at:
http://www.amsat-dl.org/index.php/news-mainmenu-97/185-syncart
[ANS thanks AMSAT Past President Perry Klein, W3PK for this information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-219.07
ARISS Status - 1 August 2011
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 219.07
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 7, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-219.07
1. Successful ARISS Contact with United Space School
On Saturday, July 30 a successful Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS) contact was held between students at United Space School in
Seabrook, Texas and Mike Fossum, KF5AQG on the ISS. Station W6SRJ in California
provided the connection. The United Space School is a once a year session of
high school students that meets in the NASA/Clear Lake
Area. Students come from
around the world for a two week session, during which they stay with local host
families while being mentored by astronauts, engineers, and
scientists to design
a mission to Mars as their team project. Class sessions are held at the
University of Houston at Clear Lake. Students are given lessons on amateur
radio and through the ARISS contact they learn firsthand what spaceflight is
like. They will use this knowledge in their team project, which they will
present to the Houston space community at the end of their session.
2. Astronaut Training Status
Mike Hopkins, KF5LJG is scheduled for an ARISS Basic Ops class on Monday,
August 1. Hopkins is slated to fly with Expedition 37 in September 2013.
3. EE Times Runs ARISSat Blog
EE (Electronic Engineering) Times is running a blog called "Chips in
Space - The
Building of an Amateur Satellite" that will run over the next few weeks
describing how the amateur radio satellite, ARISSat-1 was designed and built.
The first entry has been posted:
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/chips-in-space/4218140/The-Building-of-
an-Amateur-Satellite-1
[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information]
/EX
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's
Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project
Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are
available from the AMSAT Office.
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Lee McLamb, KU4OS
ku4os at amsat dot org